17.4 Using the MySQL Enterprise Backup Manifest

Each backup directory includes some files in the meta subdirectory that detail how the backup was produced, and what files it contains. The files containing this information are known collectively as the manifest.

mysqlbackup produces these files for use by database server management tools; it does not consult or modify the manifest files after creating them. Management tools can use the manifest during diagnosis and troubleshooting procedures, for example where the original MySQL instance has been lost entirely and the recovery process is more involved than copying files back to a working MySQL server.

The files in the manifest include:

backup_create.xml: information about the backup operation.
backup_content.xml: information about the files in the backup. This information is only complete and consistent when the backup operation succeeds. A management tool might use this information to confirm which tables are part of a backup. A management tool might compare the checksum recorded in the manifest for a single-file backup against the checksum for the file after the single-file backup is unpacked. The file also contains details of all the plugins defined on the backed-up server, by which users should make sure the same plugins are defined in the same manner on the target server for restoration.
image_files.xml: information about the files in a single-file backup. (Only produced for backups taken with the backup-to-image and backup-dir-to-image commands.) A management tool might use the paths recorded in this file to plan or automate the unpacking of a single-file backup using the image-to-backup-dir or extract commands, or to remap the paths of extracted files with the --src-entry and --dst-entry options.